We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shelley Herman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shelley below.

Shelley , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

This is an exercpt from my memoir titled “My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC Page.” “Once I had my Page uniform and access to all the buildings on the lot, I set my sights on meeting Dick Ebersol. Dick had been named Vice President of Late Night Programming at NBC. I tried to do things by the book and get an appointment to meet Dick when he was in town, but I could never get past his gatekeepers. I wrote letters and even waved to him if I saw him in the hallway. But nothing, no luck. The shortest distance for me hasn’t always been a straight line.
It would take some out-of-the-box thinking to reach my goal. And who
thought better out of the box than Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy? What is
it they say about luck? It’s when talent and opportunity meet. So I knew
that I had to act boldly and quickly when my opportunity arrived. But
what to do? What to do?Within a few weeks, the moment was right. I was driving home down the 101 Freeway late one evening when I turned on 790 KABC TalkRadio and heard, “My next guest is…Dick Ebersol!” I headed straight for the nearest off-ramp, found a payphone at a well-lit gas station, grabbed a
fistful of quarters from the bottom of my purse, and called the show. The
call screener picked up the line and asked me what question I had for
Dick. So I lied and said it was about something on “Saturday Night Live.” In
less than a minute, the talk show host said, “Caller, you’re on the air.
What’s your question?”
I was shaking. I took a deep breath and said, “Hi, Dick. I’m Shelley
Herman, and I’m a member of the NBC Page Staff in Burbank. I’ve been
trying for weeks to get an appointment to meet you, but your assistant
won’t schedule a time.” Dick was very cordial and said something nice
about the Page staff. I then barreled through, adding, “Can I get a promise
from you that when I call your assistant tomorrow, she’ll add me to your
calendar?”
Dick laughed and said, “Of course,” and commended me on my
initiative.
Sure enough, I had my meeting with Dick. He asked me about my
goals and where I saw myself in five years. I told him I planned on working
side-by-side with him and that after he got promoted to President of the
network, then finally retired, I would gladly take over the reins to continue
his vision. He seemed amused. I asked what advice he could give me, and
what he said startled me. Dick’s advice was that I should leave NBC.
What? I just got there! He said I should learn what I could at NBC and
then leave, because they would value me more with outside experience
rather than being promoted from within the company.”
Well, I stayed on a little longer at NBC and went on to have what can best be described as an eclectic career in the entertainment industry in front of and behind the camera.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While attending Agoura High School, a group of us went to the taping of the late-night concert series “Midnight Special” at NBC in Burbank, CA. I saw people standing around wearing ugly polyester uniforms, seemingly doing nothing, who got to listen to rock and roll music all day and get paid for it! The only job I could put on my resume was being a volunteer usher at a local theatre. Little did I know it would take much more than that to get one of the most highly coveted entry-level jobs in the television industry as an NBC Page. I befriended a shy girl I worked with at Sears and told her my hopes of being a Page. She said her mother knew someone at NBC, and two weeks later, I had an interview and was hired! That was in 1976; since then, my Page colleagues have become some of my closest friends. We help each other professionally and personally. As a Page, we were NBC Ambassadors while interacting with the public and talent. My biggest lesson applies to all life situations, not just the entertainment business. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t try to bluff your way trying to get to an answer. Tell the person asking the question, “I don’t have that answer, let me get back to you.” The person needing the answer will respect you much more for taking the initiative to get the answer correct. Lastly, don’t have a dream. Have a goal. People work toward goals rather than just dream about them. I thought only really smart people wrote books, but during the pandemic, I knew I had to chronicle the stories of my friends and me to, in some small way, honor and preserve this magical time in the entertainment industry. My final advice is not to listen to people who don’t offer you encouragement along with their advice; then go for it!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When writing the stories for MY PEACOCK TALE: SECRETS OF AN NBC PAGE, I learned I had to get photo releases and permission to reprint letters to share with my readers. I didn’t have a clue as to how to go about doing that, so, I went to social media. Within 1 hour, I was given access to people who controlled the estates of Gilda Radner and Joan Rivers and was allowed to use the items I thought my readers would adore as much as I did.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, being creative comes naturally, but for others, it is a struggle. I get a great deal of satisfaction from volunteering to help entertain or talk to students, encouraging them to tap into their inner silliness. I am a writer and performer at the Group Repertory Theatre every Christmas where we do an annual Christmas show for foster children.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mypeacocktale.com
• Instagram: mypeacocktale
• Facebook: My Peacock Tale
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-herman-08834633
• Youtube: Shelley Herman @ShelleyHerman-nf5mq